Going to be taking the inlaws out tomorrow and wondering what the snow levels are on the road to Brainard Lake. Anybody been up there lately? Is the snow deep enough for snowshoes or could we get by without them?

I was up there one week ago and stayed on the road because I had my dogs with me. A fair amount of the road was still dry down to the asphalt with some sections of hard pack snow. It looked pretty thin and packed down on the trail as well. Right before Brainard lake there was about a 100 yd stretch where it didnt hurt to have snow shoes but it wasnt necessary. I did use snowshoes going up to Long lake and Lake Isabelle.

For anybody who is curious, we went to Brainard Lake and made the loop around it and back to the car. There is very little snow. I was on cross-country skis and made out pretty well but my wife and inlaws brought snowshoes and they were completely unnecessary.

I was up there with a friend today, him on skis, me on showshoes. We took the Waldrop trail to S. St. Vrain trail to CMC cabin on the way up, and we came down the road. Waldrop and S St. Vrain trails had good coverage generally, with a couple bad spots. The road was pretty dry, a few skiable sections, but long and frequent stretches that were entirely bare. I didn't use my snowshoes the entire way down the road. But anything in the trees (at least north of the road) seemed pretty good. Also, the trees gave some welcome shelter from the wind today.

I have more age than experience, more experience than knowledge, and more knowledge than wisdom.Yet somehow I usually make it back to the car safely; and oftentimes, so do the people that I'm with.